Edwin t



Feces bfillUN UlltXJlLES seemepitta Letters Patent No. 100,071, dated February 212, 18 7 0; ant ezlated February '10, 1870.

'siessavnnrnoqsss or BLEAQEING mi mismanagement FIBERS.

. h fijhedulaxsfermd ta in these Letteraftblithrfd niakingjpaxt bi the eni I To all afltcattmay concern.

Be it kfibwn that I, EDWIN T. RICE, of the city and State of New York, have invented and made certain Improvements in the Process of Treating and Bleach? ing cotton flax and 'other vegetable fibers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the said invention and of the features that distinguish the same from previous processes. I

There are found in cotton, as well as in most vegetable fibers adapted to textile fabrics or to paper stock, certain resinous or gummy substances which impede the action of the usuai bleaching agents, and it is necessary to modify or to remove these substances-from Finley fibers in order to prepare and bleach them success- To elTect this object the fibers are sometimes boiled in alkaline solutions, and are sometimes subjected tofermentation and then boiled inalkaline solutions.

Cotton yarns and fabrics are usually boiled repeat edl y and for several hours at a time in alkaline solutions, to prepare them for the action of chrorine' or other bleaching agents. Acid solutionsalso have been used in treating vegetable fibers, to neutralize the alkaline substances or bleaching agents that remain in the fibers after the alkaline or bleaching applications have been made, in order to preventinjury or damage to the fibers, as well as to promote the bleaching operation.

It is well known, however, that the processes referred to now commonly in use embrace many distinctoperations, and require .much' time, apparatus and skill. They are also relatively expensive,.and they impair the strength, quality, and substance of the fibers, and the yarns and fabrics made from such fibers. I

I havensed with success acid solutions and heat to soften and remove the resinous or gummy substancesv of vegetable fibers, applied as is described in the spec ification attached to Letters Patent No. 92,09S,- issued to me' by the United States Patent Oifice'and hearing date June 29, 1869, and'I have found this process especially valdable tosoften and remove gummy substances of cotton fibers.

My invention consists in combining-thefirst two following operations, and with them the 'other operations named.- I

Flint, I steep the fibers, yarn, or Iabric, in a weak acid solution in the manner and to the degree directed in the specification beforereferred to. y

' Second, I steep, wash, or scrub the fibers, yarn, or

fabric in ordinary soap-suds, or in a weak alkaline solution, at a temperature above 100 and below 212 Fahrenheit.

I (At this eta e I flnd that a wash or scrub in this solution continue from ten to twenty minutes, or asteep the resinous or continued from thirty to sixty minutes, aifoi'ds sufiicient treatment.) 7

Third, I then apply-in the usual other bleaching agents. A p Fourth, I then apply in. the usual mannerian acid solution. p a Fifth, I then repeat the second opeiationaboVe idesc 'riued.

to rinse thoroughly the fibers, yarn, or fabric in cold or heated water, so that as little as possible of one so lution shall be.carried by the fibe'rs, yarn, or fabric to the nextsolution. i

The several operations named may be conducted in. the vats ordinarily used in treating and bleaching used during the treatment.

ish yarns or fabrics-without impairing matgriallytheir strength, quality, or substance. For exauiple,'-by steeping cotton yarns or fabrics ,in the scoring solution, as prescribed, for about one hour, tlie'resinous orguminy the. yarn or fabric in ordinary soap-suds at :a' temperature of about 160 or 170 Fahrenheit, or by steeping the yarn or fabric in such soap-suds 'or a weak 'anhour, and by. rinsing the same thoroughly in pure watenthe yarn or fabric will be so thoroughly prepared that theaction of chlorine in bleaching the tibers will be mere prompt and effective than when the fibers, yarn, or fabric are prepared in the usual manner.-

pared in chlorinated water of the strength of about .utes',.will usually be sutfieient, with the subsequent plete the bleaching operation. 7 I The yarns or fabrics, whilen'ndeftreatment in the soap-suds or alkaline solutions, may be boiled. I preboiling point inthis, as inevery other stage of my treatment.- The strength, substance, and beauty of the fibers are better preserved by carefully avoiding the boiling point of temperature.

1n treating'and bleaching fibers having a heavier resinous or gummy protection or coating than cotton, the duration of ihe several operations above detailed should be increased, but the bleaching of such fibers substances of the fiber'sare so actedupon' that they are readily removed. Then, after a rinse,.bywashing I A'bath given to cotton yarns orfabrics thus pre-- 2 Twaddels, continued for about ten or fifteen minsoaring bath and soap-suds or alkalinewaslntoprjm;

fer, however, that the temperature be kept below the new ue/25s 'manner-chlorlneor After each-of-the operations above named,*I prefer a fibers, yarns, or fabrics, and with or without mechau- .ical appliances for squeezing, working, or wringing the same, or for carrying them in'and out ofv the solutions By this combined-process lam enablcd'tos shorten "and make clreaperthe jbieachingoperation audto tinalkaliue solution'atthesame temperatureefor about treated and preparedin this way will be fonnd to be much shorter, simpler, and cheaper than when treated and prepared in the ordinary manner.

When the fibers, yarn, or fabric are not sufliciently treated or bleached by a single course of treatment,

' the operations named ma be wholly or partially rebleached, left in better condition than when treated and bleached in the usual ways. Q

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combined process of treating; vegetable fibers, I yarns, or fabrics, substantially as herein described; pre

liminary to the application of chlorine or other bleach ing agents.

2. The combined process of treating and bleaching vegetable fibers, yarns, or fabrics, substantially asdcscribed herein;

Dated August 2, 1869.

- v EDWIN T. BIOE.

- Witnesses:

GEO. D. WALKER, Geo. T. PINCKNEY. 

